What I Loved and Hated in College Football's Regular Season

Jeff Gross/Getty ImagesLots of Love for Notre Dame following a brilliant 2012 season

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Well, that all went entirely too fast.

Outside of Army-Navy—which you should absolutely watch on Saturday as you tailgate for the Heisman—the 2012 college football regular season is complete. Just like that, we’ve maximized another year of pigskin and the bowl season is upon us.

“But pretty much all these games don’t matter now,” said the gentleman in the back who hates fun, puppies and good times. Don’t be that guy (or gal). Enjoy these games for what they are: free football and wonderful opportunities for degenerate gamblers looking for 35 more opportunities to win it all back.

Before we look ahead at the games on the horizon, however, we must reflect on the season that was.

We’ve celebrated each week in 2012 with a Love/Hate column—a look at the best and worst moments from the previous CFB weekend. It was a video, image and GIF buffet showcasing some of the fabulous moments you might have missed and the not-so-great highlights that are so bad that they're magnificent.

To tie a bow on the finished product, we’re reflecting on the season that was. There’s so much Love and Hate to go around, but only the finest make the final regular-season cut.

LOVED: Brendan Bigelow's Spin Move Mania

It was not a pretty season for Cal, which is now without a coach, looking to rebound in the offensively-charged Pac-12. And while the team lacked wins, it did have one of the great highlights of the season.

Running back Brendan Bigelow pulled off a Houdini-like run against Ohio State, where he absolutely mashed the circle button on his controller (twice), somehow stayed on his feet and went 81 yards to the other side of the field.

He…probably should have gotten more touches this year, but this touch in particular was football art.

LOVED: Lee Corso, the Entire 2012 Collection

It’s so difficult to pick one Lee Corso moment from 2012 because the entire repertoire was strong once again. Corso, of course, is our own personal mascot, and watching him terrifying coworkers, children and live animals on live television is a weekly tradition we treasure.

In terms of highlighting a single moment, however, I will lean towards Corso’s use of a live rooster in South Carolina for the team's game against Georgia.

Not only was this vintage GameDay (and a good pick, I might add), but watching Kirk Herbstreit recoil in terror was a solid bonus.

HATED: That This Kansas State Trick Play Failed

You’re looking LIVE at K-State QB Collin Klein, who was our Heisman favorite for quite a while and is now a Heisman finalist. Before he got his much-deserved bronze statue buzz, however, Klein did this.

Against Miami, the Wildcats broke out their Harlem Globetrotter Formation…and it resulted in a loss of 19 yards thanks to a failed (but awesome) blind, backward pitch.

Think about Bill Snyder, the ultimate coaching veteran, having to provide pointers on this play in practice. Beautiful indeed, and it’s a damn shame that it failed.

LOVED: The Ohio State Band’s Video Game Tribute

More than 14 million views later, this video is still worth your time. Yes, it’s nine minutes long, and yes, you’ve probably seen it already, but you should really watch it again. And again. And save it for a later date to watch a few hundred more times.

On October 6, the Ohio State band decided to take a crack at a video game-centric halftime show. The result was this, a wonderful on-field moment that brought me back to my childhood.

This had me reminiscing to my days of blowing into my Nintendo cartridges, hoping just maybe that the game system would finally register. Well done, OSU.

HATED: To Be on the Other End of Will Muschamp’s Halftime Rage

This is still very funny. In fact, it will always be funny and I need to find a way to make this my ringtone.

Florida head coach Will Muschamp was doing a halftime interview with Gator Network Radio’s Brady Ackerman when an official walked by. And while his team was up comfortably over South Carolina, Muschamp was not just happy with how the game was being called.

So, he let his feelings go…into the microphone…with the cameras rolling.

They don't call him “BOOM,” for nothing, and BOOM he went. Florida, by the way, indeed overcame the ADVERSITY ON THE FIELD.

LOVED: Les Miles' Magnificent Presser

I will never forget this press conference, which basically covers every human emotion in the Emotion Book. (I assume such a thing exists.)

His team needed a miraculous effort to take down Ole Miss, and Les Miles was excited that they did. I mean, “excited” really doesn’t begin to cover the unique emotions that were exhibited by the Mad Hatter in front of the microphone.

He curses, he laughs, he celebrates, he gets angry and he does wonderful things over an extended period of time. He’s also staying at LSU for the foreseeable future, which is very good news for all of us and LSU fans, of course.

HATED: That Nebraska’s Performance Overshadowed This Run

Some action from Week 14 makes its way into the season synopsis. Unfortunately for Nebraska, it involves them, although we are highlighting a positive here. Well, we are highlighting the only positive, but it was pretty spectacular.

Yes, the game against Wisconsin was [expletive deleted] UGLY, but it wasn’t without a bit of beauty. Cornhusker QB Taylor Martinez pulled off one of the best touchdown runs you will ever see, eluding pretty much the entire Wisconsin defense and taking this one to the house.

LOVED: Jarvis Landry’s Catch of the Year

No, your team did not haul in the catch of the year. I’m sorry, but it's just not possible. That honor goes to LSU wideout Jarvis Landry for this ridiculous one-handed grab just last month versus Arkansas. This is not a debate at this point, so let's just enjoy this one and shake hands over it.

Off balance, in the air, only one hand and somehow he manages to come down with. Just a ridiculous effort overall.

Although the video tells the story, the photo that they captured from this is also a thing of beauty.

HATED: That the Regular Season Is over

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

What a year it has been.

Oh, there is plenty of pigskin still to be played this postseason, but college football Saturdays have been retired until next fall. I have no idea how this went so quickly, and it seems like only yesterday we were watching South Carolina and Vanderbilt duke it out in the first Thursday night game.

There's nothing like it, and while we will appreciate every single moment of the bowl season, the curtain on the regular season has come down. It's been a pleasure, folks. As always.